Edo

Tucked into the western foothills of the Suzuka Mountains in Higashiomi City, Shiga, the Main Hall of Hyakusai-ji Temple is an early Edo-period Buddhist hall completed in 1650 and designated an Important Cultural Property in 2004. Founded according to tradition by Prince Shōtoku in 606, this Tendai temple was rebuilt by the monk Ryōzan after Oda Nobunaga's destruction of the complex. The hall preserves the tripartite spatial order of medieval Buddhist halls while embracing early-modern aesthetics, and stands as one of the famed Three Mountain Temples east of Lake Biwa, celebrated for autumn foliage, the Thousand-Year Bodhi Tree, stone-paved approach, and the Garden of Distant Views.

An Edo-period branch shrine of Hiyoshi Taisha in Otsu, built 1634. Worship hall, chamber and sanctuary link into an H-shaped plan under black lacquer and colour.

The Former Miyaji Family Residence, relocated to the Omi Fudoki no Oka historical park in Omihachiman, Shiga Prefecture, is a mid-Edo period farmhouse originally built in 1754 in Kunitomo — one of Japan's most famous gun-manufacturing villages. Designated as a national Important Cultural Property in 1968, this thatched-roof dwelling preserves rare archaic features of the Kohoku regional building tradition, including earthen-floor living spaces. Located next to the Azuchi Castle Archaeological Museum, it can be visited alongside Azuchi Castle ruins and other Sengoku-era heritage sites.

Myōōin, a Tendai retreat founded in 859 north of Ōtsu, had four halls and its terraced precinct designated Important Cultural Properties in 1993. Free entry.

A National Historic Site since 2020, the Nagahara and Iba Goten in Shiga are remains of palaces used exclusively by the Tokugawa shoguns on the road to Kyoto.

Enjuin Main Hall, located in Minami-Shimizu, Higashiomi City, Shiga Prefecture, is a Jodo (Pure Land) Buddhist temple hall built in 1711. Despite its modest scale, this irimoya-style tiled-roof structure features robust timbers and exquisite carved transoms at the boundary of its outer and inner halls. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2003, it stands as an excellent example of mid-Edo period rural temple architecture in the Koto Plain east of Lake Biwa.

The Oku-Ibuki Furusato Denshokan is an early Edo-period thatched-roof farmhouse in the remote mountain village of Kozuhara, Maibara City, Shiga Prefecture. As the sole building to survive four devastating fires that struck the village over a span of roughly thirty years during the late Edo period, it was registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2003. The museum preserves hemp textiles and folk artifacts, and its distinctive vertically planked kitchen floor—once used as a Noh performance stage—reflects Kozuhara's remarkable heritage as a village of the performing arts.

Above the main hall of Kawaraya-ji in Shiga, this small 1700 founder's hall honours the monk who revived the temple and shows the Zen style at close range.

Built in 1725, this sutra hall at Kawaraya-ji holds an octagonal revolving scripture case and bold shrimp-beam framing. It is the one building listed for design merit.

Linked to the main hall by a covered corridor, this mid-1640s hall at Kawaraya-ji is thought to be its former main hall, marked by the raigō pillars still at its altar.

Before the main hall, this mid-1640s bell tower at Kawaraya-ji rises on sixteen-faceted posts splayed outward for strength. Hanging its bell marked the temple's revival.

The smallest of Kawaraya-ji's seven listed buildings, this 1818 hall of barely three square metres packs full Zen detail around Binzuru, the arhat rubbed for healing.

Guzeiji Temple Front Gate in Higashiomi, Shiga, is a four-legged gate of 1721, 3.9 metres wide, with a dragon carved above the lintel. It was registered in 2021.

Guseiji Temple Sutra Repository in Higashiomi, Shiga, is an earth-plastered scripture store of 1835 under a pyramidal tiled roof, registered nationally in 2007.

Guzeiji Temple Priests' Quarters in Higashiomi, Shiga, is a timber temple house of 1805 covering 310 square metres, with a richly worked gable end. Registered 2021.

Guseiji Temple Priests' Quarters Gate in Higashiomi, Shiga, is an 8.8-metre late Edo gatehouse with rooms built into its length, registered nationally in 2007.

Guzeiji Temple Entrance Hall in Higashiomi, Shiga, roofs its threshold porch in cypress bark and gathers its carving there. It was registered nationally in 2021.

Guseiji Temple Bell Tower in Higashiomi, Shiga, is a one-bay belfry of 1660, open on all four sides on a stone podium and registered as a cultural property in 2007.

Guzeiji Temple Bell Tower in Higashiomi, Shiga, stands on a tall stone podium and is thought to be the oldest building in the precinct. It was registered in 2021.

Guseiji Temple Drum Tower in Higashiomi, Shiga, hangs its drum in an upper chamber and reads as a two-tiered turret from the road. It was registered in 2007.